Allow Dhotis or Club Licenses Will Be Cancelled: Jaya's New Diktat

CHENNAI: Decrying the action of a private club imposing a dress code and denying entry to a dhoti-clad judge as an “insult” to Tamil culture, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the government would enact a new law in the current session to curb such practices.

While coming down heavily on the July 11 incident in which sitting Madras High Court Judge Justice D Hariparanthaman was barred from entering Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for wearing a dhoti, she warned such organisations of stringent action including cancellation of their licenses.

Making a suo motu statement on the issue in the Assembly, which evoked widespread condemnation and protests across the state, she said a show cause notice would be issued to the club seeking explanation. “This is an act of insult to Tamil civilization and culture. This is a denigrating act. I strongly condemn this act,” Jayalalithaa said.

There was no bylaw in the TNCA, which banned wearing of dhoti in its campus, Jayalalithaa said and asserted, “So, the act of denial of entry to those wearing dhoti was an act of insult but also not in line with TNCA laws. This is sartorial despotism.”

She said she has directed the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies to issue a show cause notice to the TNCA.

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